The Real Reason For Declining Marriage Rates in the U.S.

Written by Jasmine

Back in the 1940s, 50s and 60s, the American Dream was all about getting a good paying career, marrying the love of your life, buying the white picket fence house and having 2.5 kids. Now, though… not so much.

Nowadays, marriage rates in the U.S. have been on a consistent decline since the late 1960s, and even more dramatically since the 1990s, but scientists believe they have found the reason why. According to a study published in the Journal of Marriage and Family, “One explanation for the declines in marriage is the putative shortage of economically attractive partners for unmarried women to marry.”

So, what does this mean? Basically, people WANT to get married but, due to economic shortfalls, their options are underwhelming.

Lead author of this study, Daniel T. Lichter, Ph.D. of Cornell University states, “Most American women hope to marry but current shortages of marriageable men — men with a stable job and a good income — make this increasingly difficult, especially in the current gig economy of unstable low-paying service jobs,” he said.  “Marriage is still based on love, but it also is fundamentally an economic transaction. Many young men today have little to bring to the marriage bargain, especially as young women’s educational levels on average now exceed their male suitors.”

Damn…

So where does that leave us? The study concludes, “One implication is that the unmarried may remain unmarried or marry less well‐suited partners.”

So much for, “Till death do us part.” ??‍♀️

Click here to read more about this study.